Reason
by Novadestin
Summary: How sad it was for him that it had been his brother’s own injustice that had won his heart over for the other side. The Order’s side.


**Reason  
**

**Warnings:** Sensitive Topic/Issue/Theme

**Era:** Hogwarts **Pairings: **Bill/Fleur, Arthur/Molly

**Characters:** Bill, Percy, Other Canon

**Summary:**

*Was intended for PadfootBlack16's 'Order Collab' on HPFF which ended so I turned it into a challenge. It was to show why a particular character joined the Order, in this case Bill Weasley.*_How sad it was for him that it had been his brother's own injustice that had won his heart over for the other side. The Order's side._

**_Author's note: _**_Just a tad non-canon at the end. But the whole second half is to emphasize the Weasley family bond so it had to be :) And again thanks to nana for the quick beta!_

"_Yeah reason," Bill said crossly. "Thanks Percy for giving me one_."

* * *

_He knew who was coming without even looking up. Truthfully, he didn't want to look up. That would mean giving his younger brother a greeting he did not deserve. _

"_Hello Bill."_

_He finally glanced up and gazed at his brother, Percy, who was standing over him. Percy's crisp new suit seemed highly out of place in the cavern they were in. Then again, his whole demeanor made him seem out of place anywhere that didn't have a one o'clock tea time and three o'clock meeting. _

"_Perce," Bill said rather shortly, "what brings you down here? I figured you'd stay up top observing the Minister." He brushed his hands off as he stood up, wondering if his brother would feel 'dirtied' by a handshake._

"_The Minister said to take a few minutes break so I thought I would stop in." Percy fumbled with his suit coat as he looked around disgustedly at the grimy cave. He could not understand what about these filthy old, cursed tombs interested his bother so much._

"_I see, so you came down because he gave you permission hmm?" Bill threw the tools he had been using in a box and headed out of the cave he had been working in for the past several hours. All the hours his brother had been there and not come to visit…at least, not until the Minister said it was ok._

"_That's hardly fair Bill. I am here on business you know." Percy spoke with an attitude that came off as pompous when he had not meant it to. He was only trying to cover the sting he had felt at his brother's lack of concern for his visit, and in a way, for him as well. _

"_I know. Just nice to be considered I guess, after everything." Bill was partially ignoring his younger brother out of anger, but also partly for thought._

_Percy was here because the Minister was overseeing some tests on how the Goblins of Gringotts ran their out-of-country operations. They wanted to make sure that everything was up to standard, meaning their standard._

_And yet, even though he knew his brother would be on site, Percy had chosen to work through the entire visit; it was only on order that he relaxed. Bill also knew that he had only come to see him to discuss the ever-pressing situation between Harry and the Ministry, not to recant old stories from when they were younger._

_Percy probably figured that, since they were family; he could learn what was going on at the Burrow between the rest of the Weasley's, Hermione, Harry, and Dumbledore. But what Percy didn't seem to understand was that he had given up the right to have Bill treat him like a loved younger brother when he had turned his back on their family in siding with the Ministry over them._

"_You're my brother Bill. We both grew up in the same house. You know how irrational mother can be sometimes." Percy had left their mother completely devastated and yet he still called him brother as if everything was normal?_

"_Is it irrational to put your trust in those you love?" Bill finally turned to his brother. He was the older son here and felt only right in putting his younger sibling back in his place, "or is it more irrational to turn your back out of blind devotion?"_

"_You've been talking to mother," Percy said indignantly, looking very much like their father. Something Bill seemed sure Percy would feverishly protest to. _

"_Of course I've been talking to mother Perce," Bill said, rather stupefied by the comment. "She's distraught you know. How could you do that? She's mum and you pull this…after everything."_

"_The Minister has assured me-"_

"_The Minister is a fool! He's scared Perce."_

"_Kindly do not insult the Minister in my presence." Bill had to force himself silent to keep from laughing at his brother's ridiculous comment. "Besides, mother and father are the ones who are being misled, the whole family. Bill, you all must try to see reason." _

_Percy was trying to argue that his own family were fools with his own brother…had he gone mental? "Yeah, reason," Bill said crossly. "Thanks Percy for giving me one."_

That was the last Bill saw of his brother, save for newspaper articles of course. At the time, he had been deciding how he wanted to handle the new situation in his life. How sad it was for him that it had been his brother's own injustice that had won his heart over for the other side. The Order's side.

Now, after being mauled by the fierce claws of Fenrir Greyback and as the blurred images spoke quickly above him, Percy's face was the only one he wanted to see.

Bill knew his mother and father, his other brothers and one sister would be standing over him soon if they weren't already. And the sweet scent of his fiancé's perfume drowned out the pungent smell of whatever Madam Pomfrey was dabbing on his face. Yet Percy, the one sibling that completed the Weasley brood, was not there and nothing felt right because of that.

The next moment, which could have been hours later, Bill opened his eyes to see his family surrounding his hospital bed. Charlie, his best mate, stood behind Fleur and held her back so that Madam Pomfrey could work. Fred and George stood near Ron, who held the hand of a teary-eyed Ginny. His mother and father stood closest to him and he could feel their warm hands covering his own.

But Percy still wasn't there and the tears that ran over his torn skin burned only slightly less than his heart did. Percy had been the youngest Weasley for two years before the twins were born and Bill had always enjoyed teasing him with Charlie. They had been a trio back then, always together. However, now that Percy had broken away, not only from them but from the whole family, both Bill and Charlie could not shake the feeling of unease.

Nonetheless, it was Bill who felt the worst. Being the eldest child, he felt it had been his job to help raise his brothers and sister while his father was at work and his mother was busy with the newest member of the family. He felt as if he had failed.

The only thing that lessened this belief was the thought that, even though Percy had abandoned them, he had brought them all closer together. He was the reason they fought as a family. Had Percy not argued with him that day, Bill may never have transferred his post, nor would he have met Fleur.

Bill did not regret his decision, even as he lay there with the potential of following in Remus' footsteps. His only wish was that his brother was there to share it all with him, just like he had always been before. Without Perce, even their strong family had a kink in the chain.


End file.
